Happy New Year 2009.

Firstly I must apologise for having been away for so long. For those who don’t know, my family and I have sold the family business (and thus our home above too) and have brought a house about 20 miles away, just around the corner from my parents, nearer to my engaged son, and also nearer to my elderly Grand-mother.
Our new house doesn’t quite feel like home yet, but I’m sure we’ll get there eventually, once everything around me is of my choice and belongs to me (and not the previous owner) I’ll be OK. 80’s flowery borders anyone?? Slate walls??

I feel like I haven’t cooked for such a long time. I have cooked for sunstenance and to keep our tummies filled, but it’s been quite mechanical and not really enjoyable. And that makes me a little melancholy.

Things had to change.

So yesterday and today, I started cooking again, with the added element of enjoyment! It was great.
I chat regularly to my good friend Eleanor on the phone and the other day she was telling me how to make Chinese Yuk sung. It sounded delicious and I was aching to try it, plus the fact that my Dad sells lovely Chinese curry sauce in his Chip shop, which just begged for some fried rice to go with it, so that’s what I made!

The Yuk sung is basically pork mince stir fried with garlic, ginger, onion and then finished with a small tin of water chestnuts chopped up very small (I should also have added a tin of chopped up bamboo shoots, but didn’t find any at my local supermarket)light soy, dark soy, kecap manis and a little sesame oil for the aroma, oh, and plenty of Chinese five spice powder.
The resulting mixture is then wrapped in crunchy, cold iceberg lettuce leaves and devoured hungrily. YUM!
We had the Yuk Sung with fried rice to which I had added onion, peas, lardons, soy and five spice again.

Everything was sooo good!

I promise I will start taking photos of my food again, very soon.

Happy new Year friends. Let’s hope it’s a good one!

Oh, and today I made gravy for the first time ever without the help of my trusted Bisto gravy granules. I know it’s a little sad, but Mom always made her gravy with Bisto, the one in the brown box with the Bisto kids on the front, and that’s the way I always made mine, until the granules arrived on the scene.
Anyway, my lovely brother’s wife Michaela came down at the weekend and made us some lovely home-made gravy to go with our roast and I watched and took mental notes.
I knew I needed to get over this mental gravy block.
So I did, today, and it was marvelous. A little too alcoholic maybe, but still delicious.
I think the granules are out of a job.

Speak soon.